How can be get a yellower grip closer the to original. The one in the middle is treated with foot oil. Too dark. This is for an old Kodiak. I Do like the old color better. Or is this possible? JF

Jeff, your sample is pretty close if you take the age of the original leather and the amount of light and skin oil it has been subjected to for years into consideration. try taking just a small piece of leather ( no larger than 1x1) and just get it wet with warm water and let it air dry. Then use some leather sealer like the Tandy clear coat and see what happens. I have done some knife sheaths like this and it turns out pretty good. Let me know what happens. Lance.

Shoe polish.

You need some gold deer leather. I usually try to get a whole hide when I get it. I go through a lot.

PM me your address and I will send a 5 x 5 chunk out next Monday.

My pleasure Jeff.

Jeff, I'll send you a 6"x7" piece of gold tanned elk hide that I have. Pretty lose to the color your looking for. Very pliable and looks great on a grip . PM me your address and its on its way. Newt

Thanks pearl drums can't wait to give it try. :) JF

Jeff, I need Your address ( not pearl drums ) if you want the piece of tanned elk hide. newt

First attempt :) I'm learning a lot here. :) after it dries maybe some clear show polish. We'll see. Thanks guys. JF

All the thinning, that went good.JF

Leather dye or a stain. Tandy makes them water based now so you can get the color matching fairly close. Put on, guesstimate drying time, wipe off with a wringed out paper towel that was soaked in water.

But seriously, I hate Tandy anymore. The mangers are jerks, the keep changing inventory and getting rid of items, or change items. Was nor pleased that my oil based stains are now water based. Oil stains have vibrant colors that can be controled by mixing, like paint. Now I see these water based that look washed out by...well... Water!

Then when I stain my leather, i use the paper towel trick to get a uniform color. But I can't do that now due to dyes loosing color as soon as I start rubbing the towel on them.

The struggles of a coming on 12 year leathercrafter.

I had a 1959 Panda that was done with pigskin...I wonder sometimes how many bows Bear used that on...I will take a closer look at my 1956 Polar when I get home...I have a feeling it might also be done with pigskin

DDave

I have seen some differences, since this all started. I got to looking at a lot of the leather grips, "what animal" on the old bows, this one is elk. There were some different hides used for sure. JF

This was after thinning and sciving the edges. If I spelled that right, doubt it. Anyway it is taking shape. JF

Its looking pretty close. Not bad, I think :) JF

I like it, Jeff! The elk hide is pretty thick and stretches a lot, but once on the bow it looks very nice. How does the grip feel? Thanks for the pictures. Newt

The feel, newt, is awesome :) JF

I want to thank you guys for your help with this grip. All you need is patience leather, sharp skiving knife, hard flat board and barge cement. I can see room for improvement on my end :) gota love it. JF

Ttt

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